Text: Mormon pauses for another homily on a familiar theme: Because the people have been wicked, Yahweh has ceased to protect them. Tremendous destruction, loss of life, and a devastating loss of territory has resulted. For Mormon, this outcome is both the logical and the prophesied result of the Nephites’ violation of their foundational promise. (See commentary accompanying 2 Nephi 1:9.)
Because Mormon alludes to Yahweh’s promise to Lehi in this context of losing half of the Nephite territory, including Zarahemla, he obviously sees the prophecy as localized. Losing half fulfills the curse portion. He does not consider the Lamanite possession of the land of Nephi—the original land of promise—as fulfilling this curse. Obviously Mosiah1 was righteous, so it was not because of his wickedness that the curse became operational. Thus, Mormon sees the promise as attached to the Nephite polity more than to actual soil. The promise followed the people, not the geography.